Finally (Neighbor from Hell 12)

Too damn good…

It had been a long time since he’d held a woman, but he couldn’t remember a woman ever feeling that good before. The last time that he’d held a woman had been when Heather agreed to have the baby. He’d taken her in his arms and promised her that everything would be okay. It had also been the last time that he’d touched her other than holding her hand when the twins were born. By some unspoken agreement, they’d decided to end things after two years.

Once the twins were born, Heather moved to New York to finish law school and he’d decided to focus on the only thing that mattered to him, his children. He’d focused on taking care of them and making sure that they knew that they were loved and-

“She makes you smile, Daddy,” Abbi said as he finished combing her hair.

“You make me smile,” Devin said, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose.

“But you always look sad, Daddy,” Abbi said, worrying her bottom lip.

“I’m not sad, sweetheart,” he promised her as he reached for his old Bradford Construction tee-shirt that she liked sleeping in.

“Not when Charlie’s around,” she said with a firm nod.

Sighing, Devin asked, “And what do I look like when Charlie’s around?”

“Happy,” Abbi said as he pulled the tee-shirt over her head.

“You and your brother make me happy,” he said, hating himself because that should be enough.

“You know what would make me happy, Daddy?” Abbi asked as he picked up the Disney princess panties that he’d had to go to six different stores to find for her and helped her pull them on.

Eyes narrowing on the devious little girl that owned half his heart, he said, “You’re not getting a puppy.”

“I need some fluffiness in my life, Daddy,” Abbi said as she climbed under the covers.

“You need to go to sleep. You have school in the morning,” he told her with a mock glare as he tucked her in.

“I’d sleep better with fluffiness, Daddy,” she said, nodding solemnly as Devin began the five-minute process of checking her room for monsters.

“Would you sleep better if I promised to let you feed the baby goats this weekend?” he asked, turning on her nightlight before he shut off her bedroom light.

“That might help,” Abbi murmured, making him chuckle as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

“And…” she said, stretching out the word.

“And your room is monster-free,” he promised her as he gave her one last kiss before he stood up.

With a satisfied sigh, Abbi rolled over onto her side and said, “Goodnight, Daddy.”

“Goodnight, baby girl,” Devin said, closing her bedroom door behind him and headed to the room next to hers to find Dustin fast asleep, curled up in his bed with the teddy bear that he bought for Charlie in his arms.

Speaking of Charlie…

He had no idea what he was going to do about her.

The only thing that he knew was that he couldn’t regret letting her move in, not when she made the twins happy. When he’d put the ad online for the in-law apartment, he’d hoped to find someone nice who could help out with the twins, but what he got was so much more. Charlie was great with the kids.

What she did for Dustin…

He still couldn’t get the image of Charlie climbing off that chair and stepping on that glass to make sure that Dustin was okay out of his head. She was so much more than he’d thought, Devin decided as he headed downstairs and sighed when he didn’t find her where he’d left her. She was so fucking stubborn, Devin thought as he headed towards the apartment door that she’d started leaving open at night for the twins and found her slowly hobbling towards the kitchen, gasping in pain as she used the wall to help her. When she reached the corner, she took a fortifying breath, slowly exhaled, and-

“Have you always been this much of a pain in the ass?” Devin asked as he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way into the kitchen so that he could place her on the kitchen island.

“Yes,” Charlie said with a wince as he leaned down so that he could check her foot to make sure that she hadn’t torn her stitches.

“What are you doing off the couch?” he asked, readjusting the gauze so that it covered her stitches.

“Making banana bread,” Charlie said, gesturing to the sink next to her.

“You’re supposed to be resting,” he reminded her as he obediently washed his hands.

“I’m supposed to be making banana bread,” she said, gesturing towards the bananas on the counter.

“Why’s that?” Devin asked as he grabbed the bananas and placed them next to her.

“Because I promised the kids that I would make them banana bread for breakfast,” Charlie said, reaching over to the grab two large mixing bowls out of the strainer before gesturing to the bread on the counter behind him.

Frowning, Devin grabbed the bread and-

“I need milk, sour cream, eggs, cheese, ham, mayonnaise, and mustard,” she said, only to add, “I’m starving,” at his questioning look.

Narrowing his eyes on her, Devin grabbed everything she wanted and placed it on the counter next to her. “I made you dinner,” he reminded her.

“And it was delicious,” the woman that had barely touched her dinner said, nodding solemnly as she reached over and grabbed a plate out of the dish rack and started making a sandwich.

“Is that why you didn’t eat it?” Devin asked, narrowing his eyes on the woman that he’d suspected had fallen asleep on purpose to avoid eating the dinner he’d made.

“That’s exactly it. I was intimidated by its deliciousness,” Charlie said, nodding as she plucked a butter knife out of the strainer.

“It was healthy,” he pointed out defensively as she spread mayonnaise on a slice of bread.

“Yes, it definitely was,” she murmured, her lips twitching with amusement as she finished making her sandwich and cut it in half.

“What was wrong with what I made?” he demanded with a glare, because there was nothing wrong with what he’d made for dinner. It had been fucking delicious.

“Besides the fact that you really made a casserole out of lima beans?” Charlie asked as she handed him half of her sandwich.

“Yes,” he bit out as he took a bite.

She shrugged with a mumbled, “You try too hard,” as she took a bite of her sandwich and before he could ask what she was talking about, she added, “I’ve decided that we’re going to b

e best friends.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you need me,” Charlie said and he couldn’t help but wonder if she had any idea just how much.

Chapter 13

“Pleeeaase!”

“No,” came the firm answer that had Charlie wondering why he was being so difficult about this.

“If you do this for me, I swear that I will never ask you for another thing,” she promised him as she shifted to get more comfortable on her front step only to rethink the move when the back of her foot accidentally brushed against the unforgiving walkway.

“Not fucking happening,” her newest best friend said, making her sigh.

Why must he be so difficult?

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that,” Charlie said as she absently reached down to adjust the gauze and debated trying to do this on her own, but…

She didn’t think it was a good idea, especially not after the incident this morning when she’d tried to use her crutches to get to the bathroom.

“You’re supposed to be resting.”

“And I fully plan on doing that, but first we need to decorate,” Charlie said with a hopeful smile as she reached over and picked up the giant spider that would look really good hanging from the tree by the driveway.

Narrowing his eyes on her, Devin folded his arms over his chest and shook his head, once.

“Think about how happy the kids will be when they see that we decorated the house,” Charlie said, gesturing towards the bins filled with Halloween decorations that she’d been hoarding since she was eighteen.

She loved holidays.

Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

She loved traditions, decorations, family gatherings, parties, and everything that they entailed. When she was little, she used to have to wait exactly twenty-five days before any given holiday before she was allowed to discuss her plans for the sake of Grandma Bea’s sanity. It was a rule that Ben demanded that they continue following after Grandma Bea passed away. Not that she could blame him, Charlie thought even as she couldn’t help but notice that the inflatable gingerbread house that she’d been eyeing for the past few years would look great in this yard.